Data management system for file and database management

Abstract

A design control system suitable for use in connection with the design of integrated circuits and other elements of manufacture having many parts which need to be developed in a concurrent engineering environment with inputs provided by users and or systems which may be located anywhere in the world providing a set of control information for coordinating movement of the design information through development and to release while providing dynamic tracking of the status of elements of the bills of materials in an integrated and coordinated activity control system utilizing a repository which can be implemented in the form of a database (relational, object oriented, etc.) or using a flat file system. Once a model is created and/or identified by control information design libraries hold the actual pieces of the design under control of the system without limit to the number of libraries, and providing for tracking and hierarchical designs which are allowed to traverse through multiple libraries. Data Managers become part of the design team, and libraries are programmable to meet the needs of the design group they service.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A data management control system for file and database management for managing a plurality of projects as a design control system, comprising: for each project a control repository and one or more data repositories to store, manage, and manipulate any data object, wherein said control repository communicates with users and the data repositories in numerous ways to support environments ranging from a small user community to a global enterprise; and   wherein all data and control information is tracked in an architecturally centralized location consisting of said data repository and said control repository using a single logical PFVL paradigm to identify all data in the DMS by Package, File Type, (Data Type), Version and Level, and wherein packages are arbitrary divisions of data, whereby all the data has some common association; and   wherein there is provided a locking mechanism which enables transfer of ownership permanently or temporarily of PFVL data, and allows for an override or rest of the check out locks, and provides notificaton to the original designer or administrator in the event of check out.   
     
     
       2. A data management system for file and database management according to claim 1 wherein said data management control system has a data management model structure capable of tracing a plurality of data objects governed under similar or disparate processes, wherein all objects are classified as part of a library, having one or more types, each type having one or more versions, and each version having one or more levels.